Apparatus for positioning scroll shaped metal strips

ABSTRACT

In the stamping of articles from scroll shaped strips, it is necessary that the strip be accurately positioned so as to precisely align the strip with respect to the stamping dies. The entire area of the articles must be stamped out of the material of the strip to insure its perfect shape. The invention contemplates novel and improved means for engaging the side edges of the scroll cut strip for the purpose of accurately positioning and aligning the strip with respect to the stamping dies. In one modification the side edges of the strip are provided with piloting notches.

United States Patent Wiig 51 y 30, I972 54]- APPARATUS FOR POSITIONING 3,273,434 9/1966 Hausmann et al. ..s3 55 SCROLL SHAPED METAL STRIPS 2,537,540 1/1951 Messen 3,116,658 l/1964 Baker ..83/50 X [72] Inventor: Chester M. Wiig, Lincolnwood, Ill. [73] Assignee: F. J. Littell Machine Company, Chicago, I Primary Examinerwmlam Lawson "L Attorney-Russell H. Clark [22] Filed: Mar. 23, 1970 [57] ABSTRACT [21] Appl. No 21,699 In the stamping of articles from scroll shaped strips, it is necessary that the strip be accurately positioned so as to precisely align the strip with respect to the stamping dies. The entire CC! "83/253 83/5B02, area of the articles must be Stamped out of the mamrial of the I 58] Fieid 250 253 strip to insure its perfect shape. The invention contemplates g 41 novel and improved means for engaging the side edges of the scroll cut strip for the purpose of accurately positioning and aligning the strip with respect to the stamping dies. In one [56] References Cited modification the side edges of the strip are provided with UNITED STATES PATENTS Piloting notches- 2,l0l,083 12/1937 Mercer 83/253 Claim, 8Drawing figures Patented May 30-, 1972 4 Sheets-$heat 1 X A Tu. 6 @b w w 8 J W14 LAM W a u, y 1. 1 g H 5 E W J ,2 w 1W 3 -1T; p wvhwi I d 7 W0\ 5 J Z a 10 Q 2 y 2] Patented May 30-, 1972 3,665,794

4 Sheets-Sheet 2 6%egfarfl gy J. 44% v Patented May 30-, 1972 3,565,794

4 Sheets-Sheet 1 APPARATUS FOR POSITIONING SCROLL SHAPED METAL STRIPS The invention relates to scroll shaped strips and to the positioning of such strips with respect to the dies during stamping and blanking operations thereon. In particular the invention has reference to apparatus which will utilize the scroll cut side edges of the strips for effecting the proper positioning and alignment of the strips with the stamping and blanking dies.

In order to reduce the waste material and save metal when stock material in strip form is subjected to stamping or blanking operations, it has been the practice for many years to produce scroll shaped strips and then stamp the articles from such strips. The strips may be described as having wavy side edges that is, each side edge is scroll cut. In subsequent stamping and blanking operations the most economical use is made of the material since the waste is reduced to a minimum.

As shown and described in the application of Chester M. Y

Wiig Ser. No. 884,574 filed Dec. 12, 1969 and entitled Scroll Cutting and Slitting Machine with Tension Control Means, the straight edged stock material is initially punched with slitting openings and pilot holes. The pilot holes are employed as registering means for registering and accurately aligning the material and also the individual strips with respect to dies during the action of the dies in the slitting, stamping and or blanking operations on the same. The present invention contemplates novel and improved apparatus which will make use of the scroll shaped edges which characterize the scroll cut strips in positioning the same andin aligning the strips with respect to stamping and blanking dies.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of scroll shaped strips which have pilot notches cut into the waste material along respective side edges and wherein mechanically actuated pilot pins are provided for engaging said notches whereby to accurately position a scroll shaped strip in relation to a stamping die such as may be stamping articles from the strip.

Another and more specific object of the invention is to provide' novel and improved apparatus for engaging the side edges of scroll shaped strips as the individual strips are being feed between stamping or blanking dies in order to position and align the strip with respect to the said dies.

With these and other objects in view, the invention may consist of certain novel features of construction and operation as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the specification, drawings and claims appended thereto.

In the drawings which illustrate an embodiment of the invention and wherein like reference characters are used to designate like parts;

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of apparatus coming within the invention and wherein the scroll cut strips are provided with pilot notches;

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view looking towards the right side of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view showing apparatus coming within the invention;

FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken along line 55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view looking towards the right side of the apparatus of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view showing another modification of apparatus coming within the invention; and

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on line 8-8 of FIG. 7.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, it will beobserved that the scroll ahaped strip 10 is supported on the flat horizontal surface 1 1 of the support 12 and that feeding rolls I4 and 15 are provided for moving the strip along the surface in a direction from right to left FIG. 3. The larger bottom roll 14 is fixed to the driving shaft 16 and the same is journalled for rotation in the bearings 17. The top roll 15 is fixed to the shaft 18 which is journalled by the bearings 19. The scroll cut side edges of the strip 10 is provided with the piloting notches 20 which are located in certain of the flat bottom recesses 21, the said recesses alternating with the flat top projections 22 to produce the wavy or scroll shape which characterizes the strip 10.

Forwardly of the feeding rolls, the invention contemplates the provision of apparatus for positioning and aligning the strip making use of the piloting notches in doing sorln this area the support 12 provides two platforms 24 and 25 located opposite each other and on which the pilot pins are mounted. A bracket 26 is bolted to the platform 24 and said bracket provides guideways for the reciprocating pins 27 and 28 which have pointed ends 30 for interfitting with the piloting notches 20. The surface '12 centrally of the support is slightly elevated as best shown in FIG. 2 to facilitate the entrance of the pilot pins.

It is necessary to reciprocate the pilot pins since the said pins engage the notches 20 only when the strip is at rest and during which the stamping operation occurs. The pins must be reciprocated in timed relation with the stamping operation and this is conveniently effected by means of a plunger 31 guided by the-bracket 32 and which reciprocates vertically in synchronism with the stamping operation as performed by the dies. The lower terminal end 33 of the plunger is transversely tubular and the same accomodates the roller 34 carried at 35 by the arm 36. The opposite end of the arm is fixed to the pivot shaft 37 journalled in the spaced brackets 38 provided by the support 12. A pair of levers 40 are also fixed to the pivot shaft 37 in spaced relation and by means of the links 41 each pilot pin is operatively connected to the plunger 31. One of the links has a pivot connection at 42 with the pilot pin 27 and at its opposite end the link is pivotally connected to one of the levers 40. The other link has a pivot connection at 43 with the pilot pin 28 and the same at its other end is pivotally connected to the other lever 40.

The platform 24 supports the two pilot pins 27 and 28 whereas the platform 25 supports only one identified by numeral 44. However the single pin 44 is adapted to engage a piloting notch having location on the right side of the scroll strip approximately centrally between the two notches on the left side and which are engaged by the pilot pins 27 and 28. Here also the tubular part 33 receives the rollar '45 carried by the arm 46 and which is fixed at its opposite end to the pivot shaft 47 journalled by the spaced brackets 48. The lever 50 is fixed in depending relation to the pivot shaft 47 and said lever is pivotally joined at 51 to the link 52 which in turn is pivotally connected at 53 to the pilot pin 44.

The scroll cut strip 10 is intermittently fed to a stamping press for stamping out the circular discs indicated by the dotted lines 54 and which are used as tops and bottoms in the production of tin cans. The circular discs are punched out of the material so as to reduce the waste to a minimum. It will be observed that the V shaped piloting notches are formed in the waste material. The stamping operation takes place while the strip 10 is at rest and then,as the dies are elevated in preparation for the next stamping action, the strip is moved forwardly in a left hand direction equal to the space between the notches 20 on the right hand side of the strip.

Accordingly each time the strip is moving the plunger 31 will be lowered to move the pilot pins outwardly away from the strip which frees the strip for such movement. As the strip gradually comes to rest the plunger will be moved upwardly to cause the pilot pins to move inwardly. As the strip comes to rest the pilot pins are caused to enter the piloting notches with the two pins 27 and 28 entering the pair of spaced notches on the left side of the strip and the single pin 44 entering the notch on the right side of the strip. Should a minor inaccuracy exist in the feeding length in the neighborhood of several thousands of an inch, the piloting pins will correct for this inaccurate feed length since the pointed ends 30 in entering the piloting notches will move the strip either forwardly or rearwardly to thus precisely position the same. Although the inaccuracy of the feed length may not be great it is of the utmost importance that the strip be precisely positioned since the stamping of the discs or other articles must take place entirely within the material. The pilot pins 27,28 and 44 are thus mechanically actuated by the plunger 31 in timed relation with the movement of the stamping dies. Accordingly they have horizontal movement of a reciprocating nature for entering and receding from the piloting notches for the accurate positioning of the strip as a preliminary operation to the stamping of the articles from the strip.

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 illustrate. a modification coming within the invention and which employs new and improved means for roller piloting a scroll cut strip for accurately positioning the same for a stamping or blanking operation. The support 60 provides the top surface 61 having a raised central portion for supporting the scroll cut strip for movement in a direction towards the left FIG. 6. The strip is fed intermittently by the co-acting rolls 62 and 63. The bottom roll 62 is fixed to drive shaft 64 which is journalled by the bearings 65 fixed to and supported by the base member 66. The top roll 63 is fixed to the shaft 67 joumalled by the bearings 68.

The base member 66 provides the platforms 70 and 71 located on respective sides of the support 60 and which suitably house and support the reciprocating racks 72 and 73. The rack 72 housed and supported for reciprocation by the platform 70 carries at its inward end the carriage 74 which is provided with the spaced rollers 75. The rack 73 is similarly housed and supported by the platform 71 and the rack at its inward end is fixed to a carriage 76 which is provided with the spaced rollers 77. The platforms journal the pivot shafts 78 and 80 and a lever such as 81 and 82 is fixed to the respective shafts. The pivot shaft 78 of platform 70 carries the gear segment 83 which meshes with the rack 72. In a similar manner the pivot shaft 80 of platform 71 carries the gear segment 84 which meshes with the rack 73. The base member 66 has a formed part which accomodates the power cylinder 85 having a piston rod 86 to which is fixed the cross bar 87. The power cylinder may be actuated by air pressure or by hydraulic pressure. Also it is possible to eliminate the power cylinder and reciprocate the cross bar 87 vertically by mechanical means.

The up and down movement of the cross bar 87, whether actuated by the power cylinder or by mechanical means, is transmitted by the end links 88 to the levers 81 and 82. Up movement of the cross bar will rock the levers and rotate the gear segments 83 and 84 so as to move the roller carriages 74 and 76 outwardly. Reversely,down movement of the cross bar will rotate the gear segments so as to move the carriages inwardly.

As described in connection with FIG. 1, the strip 10 is fed intermittently and the roller carriages have movement in synchronism with the stamping actions of the dies in stamping out the circular discs 54 or similar articles. As the feeding movement of the strip comes to rest, the roller carriages are caused to move inwardly so that the rollers 75 and 77 will engage the projections 22 or enter within the recesses 21 for the purpose of accurately positioning the strip for precise aligning of the strip with the stamping dies.

The modification of FIGS. 7 and 8 employs a contoured feeding roll for interfitting with the side edges of the scroll cut strip 10. The support 80 provides the supporting surface 81 on which the strip is caused to move intermittently in a left hand direction. The strip 10 passes between and the same is intermittently fed by the coacting rolls 82 and 84, roll 82 comprising a confining roll and 84 comprising the contoured feeding roll. The roll 82 is fixed to the shaft 85 which is joumalled for rotation by the standards 86. The contoured feeding roll 84 is fixed to the drive shaft 87 and the said shaft is journalled by the standards 88.

The scroll cut strip has been described as having flat bottom recesses 21 and flat top projections 22 with the projections and recesses alternating on each side of the strip. A further characteii-tic may be noted namely that'a projection onone side of the strip will have a recess directly opposite on the other side. The contoured roll 84 has side flange portions 90 and as contemplated by the invention the said ange portions are each formed on their inside surfaces with recesses 91 and with alterr ating projections 92. The size and shape of the recesses and the projections is the same as those on the scroll cut strip and since they are thus complementary they have a precise interfitting relation. In other words the projections 92 on the flange portions interfit with the recesses 21 on the strip and projections 22 on the strip interfit with the recesses 91 on the flange portions.

The contoured roll 84 will intermittently rotate in synchronism with the stamping operation. When the stamping dies are separated the strip 10 is advanced in a left hand direction in preparation for the next stamping action of the dies. The coacting rolls 82 and 84 are at rest during the stamping out of the circular discs or other articles from the material of the scroll shaped strip. The interfitting relation between the contoured roll 84 and the strip is sufficiently precise for accurately positioning and aligning the strip with respect to the stamping dies. Also positive registration of the strip to the dies is assured.

It will be understood that automatic roll lifters will be employed in the modifications of FIGS. 1 and 4. Such automatic roll lifters are old and well known and the same will have lifting action on the top roll 15 of FIG. 1 and on the top roll 63 of FIG. 4. By lifting the top roll even though the lifting action is only for a fraction of an inch, the scroll cut strip is substantially released and a minor adjustment of the same for precise positioning is made possible. Also the lifting action is automatic and the same is synchronous with the press so that the strip is released immediately before the positioning pins 27,28 and 44 of FIG. 1, or the positioning carriages 74 and 76 of FIG. 4 ,are actuated to contact the strip for precisely positioning the same. With the completion of the stamping operation and as the die moves upwardly, the rolls are dropped so that they are again in contact with the strip for feeding the same on their next rotative movement.

What is claimed is:

1. In apparatus for positioning scroll shaped strips with respect to the dies of a stamping press and wherein the strips are characterized by having flat top projections alternating with flat bottom recesses on each side edge thereof, the improvement which includes feeding rolls having rotation in synchronism with the stamping operations of the press for intermittently feeding the strip in a forward direction to locate the strip between the dies, a plurality of pilot pins mounted and supported for transverse reciprocating movement towards and from its respective side edge of the strip, certain of the fiat bottom recesses having a piloting notch formed therein for receiving one of said pilot pins, and actuating mechanism having actuation in synchronism with the stamping operations of the press for effecting reciprocation of the pilot pins to cause the same to enter the piloting notches and interfit therewith for accurately positioning the said strip and for holding the strip as thus positioned during the period the strip is at rest. 

1. In apparatus for positioniNg scroll shaped strips with respect to the dies of a stamping press and wherein the strips are characterized by having flat top projections alternating with flat bottom recesses on each side edge thereof, the improvement which includes feeding rolls having rotation in synchronism with the stamping operations of the press for intermittently feeding the strip in a forward direction to locate the strip between the dies, a plurality of pilot pins mounted and supported for transverse reciprocating movement towards and from its respective side edge of the strip, certain of the flat bottom recesses having a piloting notch formed therein for receiving one of said pilot pins, and actuating mechanism having actuation in synchronism with the stamping operations of the press for effecting reciprocation of the pilot pins to cause the same to enter the piloting notches and interfit therewith for accurately positioning the said strip and for holding the strip as thus positioned during the period the strip is at rest. 